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Celebrating 100 years of Connection

Friday, December 1, 2017

Nova Scotia’s connection with Boston dates back to 1917, with what was then the largest man-made explosion the world had seen, the Halifax Explosion. Within hours, the community of Boston came to Nova Scotia’s aid.

As a token of our appreciation, Nova Scotia sends a Christmas tree to Boston each year. And while Halifax and Boston celebrate this unique custom, we also celebrate a partnership of trade and shared economic activity.

Nova Scotia and New England share a mutually beneficial relationship based on extensive economic, cultural and historic ties. Nova Scotia products have an excellent reputation with American consumers. In fact, Nova Scotia exported $1.022 billion to New England in 2016.

During the week of this year’s tree lighting ceremony, NSBI brought two delegations of Nova Scotia companies, including ocean technology and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies, to New England’s gateway – the city of Boston. These companies took part in business-to-business meetings where they were given the opportunity to introduce a new product or service, learn more about accessing their market, assess competition, and identify new innovations and technology to improve their businesses.

Did you know that 97.9% of businesses in Nova Scotia are considered small with less than 99 employees? For these companies to scale up and grow - to become larger employers and exporters - they need help entering new markets to explore opportunities, find new customers, and attract investment.

NSBI has traditionally helped companies enter new markets through leading trade missions and facilitating in-market introductions. In October, we took this commitment to our exporters up a notch.

The Scale-up Hub Cambridge was launched to give companies ready to scale-up and grow an avenue. The program leverages the strong historical and cultural ties to New England and helps Nova Scotia companies scale up to a larger size through targeted access to export markets in Massachusetts and the broader US Northeast.

Introducing the first cohort

The Program attracted applications from across the province. The first cohort of companies spans technology-enabled industries, including 4Deep, Mindsea, Aerotec Engines and Boondoc Technologies. These companies will have access to shared working space in Cambridge, Massachusetts and benefit from the services of a dedicated business development consultant for a period of one-year. We look forward to reporting on their successes through accessing this unique program.

The annual tree lighting ceremony is a chance for us to give thanks and celebrate our history with the people of Boston. It’s also a time to foster our relationship for future trade and business development between our two countries. Because sometimes, it really is about more than just a tree.

For complete information about any NSBI programs, please contact your designated Export Development Executive or Regional Business Development Advisor. If you do not have a designated contact at NSBI, contact the Regional Business Development Advisor in your area.